Sociolingo’s Mali

Source: masquerades of the bozo, kirango (mali)

This interesting webpage By Elisabeth den Otter has lots of photos which you can access through links. It covers the rarely seen circumcision ceremony and has other cultural information

Kirango is an old village located on the bank of the Niger river, about 35 km north-east of the city of Ségou. The inhabitants are Bamanan (farmers) and Bozo/Somono (fishermen). Both ethnic groups celebrate their masquerades, each in its own way. For the Bozo/Somono circumcision is a very important ceremony, which takes place about every ten years. For that occasion, they organize a masquerade, with dances, masks, and ‘sogow’ (literally ‘animals’) that represent an animal, symbolic or domestic. They are accompanied by drumming and singing.

Go to the webpage and see the photos

➤Home

Source: http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/anth honors/2

”You Eat Beans!”: Kin-based Joking
Relationships, Obligations, and Identity
in Urban Mali
Rachel A. Jones

ABSTRACT
For people in urban environments, practices and beliefs allowing creation of supportive
social relationships are important for dealing with economic and other insecurities. This
paper examines roles of rhm`mjtw`, a kin-based joking relationship, in Bamako, Mali. I
argue that people in Bamako use and negotiate practices and beliefs associated with
rhm`mjtw` for practical purposes. Participant observation, ethnographic interviewing, and
historical research were used to examine ways that Malians use this joking relationship to
promote social cohesion, circumvent the power of the state, provide opportunities for
economic gain, and preserve cultural histories and identities in a rapidly changing urban
environment.

This paper is posted at DigitalCommons@Macalester College.
http://digitalcommons.macalester.edu/anth honors/2

c Copyright is owned by author of this document.